Electronic motor control system



Patented Oct. 20, 1953 ELECTRONIC MOTOR CONTROL SYSTEM Leo H. Dee, Schenectady, N. Y.,, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New Application February 15, 1952, Serial No. 271.791

2 Claims. (Cl. 318*331) T s nven i n re ates t co trol y e mo Wrticularly to electronic motor control systems and it has f on obiect he p o is n of a s p rel a le a d i p o ed nt ol. syst m of this character More specifically, the invention relates to electropic con ro s st m n h h. the field w d oi he. mo o upp ie r m n uncontrolled rectifier and: n w c ir ct v t s s ppl ed to th arma an m inta n d subs an ial y constant; by means of a. second rectifier controlled in response to the difierence between a reference voltage and a speed signal voltage which is derivediron; the armature voltage.

In a motor control system of this, character, the motor experiences a rise in, speed in, response to a decrease. in. line voltage owing to the resulting decrease infield current. while the reference volte and consequently,. the armature voltage are maintained constant. The amount. of. speed change which the motor experiences depends upon; the degree. of saturation of the field structure. Usually in. svstemsv of this character, the motor is, operated at a. point on the saturated portion of the. magnetization curve such thatv a 10% decrease in field current will produce. approximately 5%. decrease in field flux. As a. result, the motor will experience approximately 5%. rise in speed in response to a decrease in line voltage. This is. highly undesirable. and, accordingly, a. iurther object of the invention is the. provision of a simple and inexpensive; means. for compensating for the. changes. in field flux which result from. changes in line. voltagev While; the. armature voltage. is. maintained constant-..

In carrying; the invention. into efiect: in one form thereof, the field of the motor is, supplied from an uncontrolled rectifier and. a. voltage is supplied. to; the; armature and maintained substantially constant by means of a rectifier controlled in response to the difference between a reference voltage and a. control voltage derived from. the armature voltage. The. reference. voltageis compensated by causing it to. change with line. voltage in any amount and. sense. that will cause the armature voltage percentage changeto equal: and: counteract the resulting percentage change in field'flux'. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the referencevoltage unit comprises positive and negative reference voltage supply conductors; a rectifiersupplied from the same alternating voltage source as that from which the motor field winding; and armature winding are supplied, together with a voltage regulating type electric glow valve supplied with direct voltage from the rectifier. A- resistor' is connected in series-with this glowvalve. Connections are provided for deriving from the voltage drop across-the glow valveandseriesresistor and supplying tothereference voltage supply; conductors a voltage having a constant component 2 proportional to the drop across. the valve and a variable component proportional to. the drop across the resistor which. in turn is variable in accordance with variations'm the line voltage.

For a better and more complete understanding of the. invention, reference should now be had to the. following specification and to the accompanying. drawing, of which l is a. simple diagrammatical illustration, of an. embodiment of the invention and Fig. 2 is a chart of characteristic curves which facilitate an understanding. of its operation.

Referring now to the drawing, a D. C. motor I having an armature la and a shunt type. field winding lb is supplied from a source of alternating voltage comprising the supph conductors 2. A direct voltage is. supplied to the armature la. of the motor by means of a. controlled. dlametric rectifier which is illustrated as comprising a. pair or triode rectifier valves 3 and 4 which are supplied from the secondary winding, of a supply transformer of which the primary winding; 54 is connected to the supply conductors 2. The valves 3- and 4. arepreferably thyratronsl Their anodes 3a and 4a are connected to the opposite terminals of; the secondary winding- 5b ot the supply transformer andthe cathodes 3b and 4b; are connected to a conductor 6 which thusbecomes. the: positive supply conductor for the motor armature. The conductor 1, which is connected to'the center tap of the; secondary winding 5h constitutes the negative supply conductor for the armature. The armature. is. connected across the positive and negative supply conductors 6 I.

A; direct. voltage; is supplied; to the shunt field winding l b; by means of. an. uncontrolled diametric rectifier, which is. illustrated-as.- comprising, a pair of diode electric valves 8 and 9- ofwhich the anodesv 8aand; Scare connected to, opposite: ter minalsof the secondargwindlng; 5b of the: supply transformer; The cathodes 811 and 9b are connected: to. the. positive terminal of the: shunt. field winding l bof which. the opposite terminal: con:- nected-totheconductor I and thence to thecenter tap of the secondary winding 5b.

The, rectified output voltage at thethyratrons & and 4-.is-control1ed.by'varying their'firing; point, 11.61., varying; the instant in the; positive, half cycle of. anode voltage at. which. the grid voltage becomes lessnegative than the: critical grid voltage. This is; accomplished by: supplying between. the cathodes: and. grids of; the thyratrons alternating voltages oi-v which the phase with respect. to the anode voltage is variable. For the purpose of varying the phase ofythe grid: voltage of; the thyratrons relative. tothe anode voltage. a phase shifting network is provided which is iilustrated as comprising a. resistor to: and the alternating current winding l'la ofasaturable core=type mac:- tor. The resistor I0 and-the-winding l la areconheated in series relationwith each other across the supply conductors 2. Also connected across the supply conductors 2 is the primary winding [2a of a control voltage supply transformer, and between its center tap and the junction point of the resistor l and reactance winding Ila is connected the primary winding l3a of the grid transformer of which the secondary winding |3b is divided into two equal portions. One half of the secondary winding I3?) is connected between the cathode 3b and the control electrode 30 of thyratron 3, and similarly the opposite half of.

the secondary winding is connected between the cathode 4b and the control electrode lcof thyratron 4.

The phase shift of the grid voltage of the thyratron is produced by varying the reactance of the saturable core reactor H, and this is accomplished by varying the saturation of the core. When the saturable reactor is saturated, the secondary voltages of the grid transformer [3 are approximately in phase with the anode voltages of the thyratrons and when the reactor is unsaturated, the grid voltages are out of phase lagging. Intermediate variations of saturation produce corresponding intermediate phase relationships. Thus when the saturable reactor I l is fully saturated, the thyratrons 3 and 4 are fully conducting and, conversely, when the reactor is unsaturated, the thyratrons are substantially non-conducting. For intermediate values of saturation; the thyratrons have corresponding intermediate values of conductivity.

An auxiliary rectifier valve i is supplied from the secondary winding l2b of the control voltage transformer. Preferably the valve it is a double-diode valve having a pair of anodes Ida and Nb and a single cathode 14c within a single envelope. The anodes Ma and Mb are connected to opposite terminals of the secondary winding l2b. The direct voltage furnished by the rectifier I4 is filtered by means of a smoothing reactor I 5 and a capacitor it which are connected in series relationship between the cathode E40 and the center tap of the secondary winding lib. The voltage across the capacitor i6 is impressed on a circuit including a resistor ll, an electric glow valve l8 and a resistor 19 connected in series relationship. The glow valve is a gaseous discharge device which operates in that region of its characteristic in which the voltage drop across its anode and cathode terminals is substantially constant throughout a wide range of current. Within the operating limits of the equipment, the voltage drop across the terminals of the glow valve 18 is independent of the variation in the supply voltage. Any difference between the voltage across the capacitor I6 and the voltage drop across the glow valve is is absorbed by the resistors I1 and I9.

The voltage across the glow valve [8 and the resistor is consists of two components of which the component across the glow valve I8 is constant and that across the resistor I9 is variable in proportion to the current which it conducts and, consequently, in proportion to the line voltage.

For the purpose of providing a reference voltage for controlling the speed of the motor I, a potentiometer 25 is connected across the series connected glow valve i8 and resistor l9. There is thus impressed upon the potentiometer '25 a voltage having a constant magnitude component and a variable magnitude component. The potentiometer 23 is provided with a slider 26a by means of which a desired fraction of the total voltage drop across the glow valve and resistor 4 l9 may be selected as the reference voltage for controlling the speed of the motor. Thus the voltage between the slider 20a and the positive supply conductor 6 is the reference voltage and it comprises a constant component and a variable component having the same proportion as that of the constant and variable voltage components across the glow valve and resistor IS.

A speed signal control voltage is derived from the armature voltage of the motor and is compared with the reference voltage and the difference is utilized to control the current in the saturating winding Nb of. the saturable reactor in the phase shifting circuit and thus to control the firing point of the thyratrons 3 and 4. This comparison is effected by means of a circuit which is illustrated as comprising a high vacuum valve 2| and a voltage divider comprising two resistors 22 and 23 which are connected in series relationship between slider 20a and the negative armature supply conductor 1 and thus to the negative terminal of the armature la. The anode 2ia of the valve 2i is connected to one terminal of the saturating winding Nb of which the opposite terminal is connected to the positive output terminal of the auxiliary rectifier It and cathode Zlb is connected to the positive supply conductor C- and thus to the positive armature terminal of the motor.

The control electrode 21's is connected to the junction point of the resistors 22 and 23 and thus there is supplied between the cathode and control electrode a voltage proportional to the difference between the reference voltage and the feedback voltage from the motor armature.

The comparison circuit responds to changes in the difference voltage to vary the firing point of the thyratrons in such sense as to counteract the speed change which produced the change in difference voltage and thereby maintains the armature voltage of the motor at a value corresponding to the position of the slider 20a.

Briefly, the operation is as follows. It may be assumed that the motor is operating at a speed corresponding to the position of the slider 20a and that owing to an increase in load, the speed of the motor decreases. This causes the countervoltage of the motor to decrease and the voltage of the negative armature terminal to become less negative with respect to the voltage of the positive terminal. As a result, the voltage supplied to the control electrode 210 becomes less negative with respect to the voltage of the cathode, thereby increasing the current in the anode-cathode circuit of valve 2|. This increased current increases the saturation of the reactor H and thus advances the firing point of the thyratrons 3 and 4 to increase the voltage supplied to the armature of the motor. As the speed of the motor increases in response to the advance in the firing point, the negative armature terminal and, consequently, the control electrode 2lc become more negative, thereby decreasing the rate at which the armature voltage approaches the preset value. This continues until a balanced condition is reached such that any further increase in the armature voltage would reduce the difference voltage between it and the reference voltage to such an extent that the firing point of the thyratrons would be retarded sufficiently to begin to decrease the armature voltage.

If the reference voltage were maintained constant and the alternating voltage of the supply line decreased, the armature voltage would be maintained constant and the voltage supplied to the field winding lb would be decreased in proportion to the decrease in line voltage. This would decrease the field current and flux, and the speed of the motor would rise as illustrated by the curve 24 in Fig. 2 in which abscissae represent line voltage and ordinates on the left-hand axis represent speed of the motor. It is to be noted that under the conditions assumed, as the supply voltage varies approximately plus or minus the speed varies approximately minus or plus 5% respectively. This is attributable to the fact that the field is operating in a semi-saturated region and the variation in field flux is not directly proportional to the field current. Although the field flux is not exactly linear, it may be assumed to be reasonably linear so that the curve 24 may be considered to be approximately a straight line, over a limited variation of the line voltage. In a typical motor, the field flux and speed will vary approximately 5% in response to a change of 10% in line voltage.

The desired constant speed characteristic of the motor is represented by curve 25. In order to achieve this characteristic, the voltage supplied to the armature is increased in proportion to the line voltage as illustrated by the curve 26 of which ordinates on the right-hand axis represent armature voltage and abscissa represent line voltage. To hold constant speed under the conditions assumed, the armature voltage must increase approximately 5% in order to compensate for an increase of 10% in line voltage.

From the foregoing, it is clear that if the reference voltage is maintained constant, the motor speed will vary with line voltage changes as illustrated by curve 24. This undesirable speed variation is eliminated by the compensation produced by the variation in voltage drop across the resistor I!) in series with the glow valve IS in response to changes in line voltage. As the line voltage varies, the current flowing in the circuit of the glow valve I8 and the resistor [9 will vary correspondingly. The voltage drop across the low valve l8 will remain constant in accordance with its characteristic. However, the voltage across the compensating resistor l9 will vary with the current which it conducts and, consequently, it will vary in some proportion with the line voltage. The resistance of resistor I9 is chosen to produce in response to variation in line voltage a varying voltage drop which, added to the constant voltage drop across the glow valve, will produce a varying reference voltage between supply conductor 6 and slider which varies approximately plus or minus 5% with a line voltage variation of approximately plus or minus 10%.

Since the reference voltage is made to vary with the line voltage, the control functions to vary the armature voltage correspondingly and, therefore, in proportion to the change in field flux which results from such variation in line voltage. Thus the tendency of the speed of the motor to increase with decreasing line voltage and to decrease with increasing line voltage is effectively counteracted.

If a 5% variation in armature voltage for a 10% variation in line voltage does not produce the constant speed characteristic, the compensating resistor may be adjusted to produce exactly the amount of compensation required to maintain the speed of the motor constant.

Although in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, this invention is described as embodied in concrete form and the principle thereof has been explained together with the best mode in which it is now contemplated applying that principle, it will be understood that the elements shown and described are merely illustrative and that the invention is not limited thereto since alterations and modifications will readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit of this invention or from the scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination, a pair of alternating voltage supply conductors, a direct current motor having armature and field windings, means for supplying exciting current to said field winding comprising an uncontrolled rectifier having input terminals connected to said supply conductors and output terminals connected to said field winding, a source of direct reference voltage comprising positive and negative reference voltage buses, an electric glow valve having an anode connected to said positive bus and a cathode connected to said negative bus and having the characteristic of substantially constant voltage drop across said anode and cathode for all values of current within its operating range, means for supplying to the anode-cathode circuit of said valve a direct voltage derived from said alterhating voltage supply conductors and proportional in magnitude to said alternating voltage, means for deriving a speed signal voltage from the armature voltage of said motor, a resistor included in the anode-cathode circuit of said valve for adding to said constant voltage drop of said reference voltage a component of direct voltage variable in magnitude with the voltage of said supply conductors to compensate for changes in the voltage of said supply conductors, and a rectifier controlled in response to the difference of said reference voltage and said speed. signal voltage for supplying a direct voltage to said armature.

2. In combination, a. pair of alternative volt age supply conductors, a direct current motor having armature and field windings, means for supplying exciting current to said field winding comprising an uncontrolled rectifier having input terminals connected to said supply conductors and output terminals connected to said field winding, a source of reference voltage comprising positive and negative reference voltage buses, an electric glow valve having an anode connected to said positive bus and a cathode connected to said negative bus and having the characteristic of substantially constant voltage drop across said anode and cathode for all values of current Within its operating range, a second rectifier supplied from said alternating voltage conductors for supplying a direct voltage to the anode cathode circuit of said valve, means for deriving a speed signal voltage from the armature voltage of said armature, a rectifier controlled in response to the difference of said reference voltage and said derived voltage for supplying a direct voltage to said armature, and a resistor included in the connection between said cathode and said negative bus for varying said reference voltage to compensate for changes in the voltage at said supply conductors.

LEO H. DEE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,522,520 Knauth et a1 Sept. 19, 1950 2,558,086 Herchenroeder June 26, 1951 

